Top Pentagon Official on Misconceptions About AFRICOM

Testimony before the House of Representatives Committee on Oversight and Government Reform on July 16, 2007 by Theresa Whelan, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for African Affairs:

(Following is excerpt. Full statement can be seen here. Note: although the testimony is dated July 16, news reports on the appearance of Ms. Whelan and others to discuss AFRICOM say the hearing was held on July 15th. See this story and this one.)

There are many misconceptions about what USAFRICOM will look like and what it will do. I would like to address these misperceptions and concerns here.

First, some believe that we are establishing USAFRICOM solely to fight terrorism, to secure oil resources, or to discourage China. These are misperceptions. Violent extremism is cause for concern, and needs to be addressed, but this is not USAFRICOM’s singular mission. Natural resources such as oil represent Africa’s current and future wealth; we seek a secure market environment, in which we can compete fairly and benefit along with all other participants in that global market. Ironically, the U.S., China and other countries share a common interest – a secure environment - and could potentially cooperate on programs which help guarantee that security. USAFRICOM’s vision is to assist Africans to build greater capacity to assure that security.

Second, some have raised the concern that USAFRICOM will take control of issues that are the responsibility of the Africans themselves. Our intent is quite the contrary. DoD recognizes and applauds the leadership role that individual African nations and multi-lateral African organizations are taking in the promotion of peace, security and stability on the continent. For example, USAFRICOM can provide effective training, advisory and technical support to the development of the African Standby Force. This is exactly the type of initiative and leadership needed to address the diverse and unpredictable global security challenges the world currently faces. The purpose of USAFRICOM is to encourage and support such African leadership and initiative, not to compete with it or to discourage it. U.S. security is enhanced when African nations themselves endeavor to successfully address and resolve emergent security issues before they become so serious that they require considerable international resources and intervention to resolve.

Finally, there are fears that USAFRICOM represents a militarization of U.S. foreign policy in Africa and that USAFRICOM will somehow become the lead U.S. Government interlocutor with Africa. This fear is unfounded. USAFRICOM will support, not shape, U.S. foreign policy on the continent. The Secretary of State remains the chief foreign policy advisor to the President, and the Secretary of Defense remains the chief advisor on defense matters. The creation of a single U.S. DoD point of contact for Africa will simply allow DoD to better coordinate its own efforts, in support of State Department leadership, to better build security capacity in Africa. The intent is not for DoD generally, or for USAFRICOM at the operational-level, to assume the lead in areas where State and/or USAID have clear lines of authority as well as the comparative advantages to lead. Chief of Mission authorities will remain as they are, as will the authorities pertaining to Combatant Commanders. DoD will seek to provide support, as appropriate and as necessary, to help the broader U.S. Government national security goals and objectives succeed.